Ethio Telecom has urged the 45,000 verified shareholders from its first public share sale to open trading accounts with licensed brokers or investment banks as the company begins trading on the Ethiopian Securities Exchange.
Chief Executive Officer Frehiwot Tamiru said the next step for investors is to open accounts with intermediaries licensed by the Ethiopian Capital Market Authority, warning that limited public understanding of capital market procedures could slow participation in trading.
The move marks a major transition for the state-owned telecom giant, which has begun shifting from full government ownership toward public shareholding. Ethio Telecom said the first phase of the share sale attracted strong interest, with 47,377 potential investors registering and about 10.7 million shares sold, raising 3.2 billion birr.
After the sale period closed, the company worked with regulators on data cleaning, reconciliation and know-your-customer verification. It also completed dematerialization, converting paper-based ownership records into a secure digital system.
According to the company, 45,000 investors successfully passed the verification process and were confirmed as shareholders after the lot allocation was approved on 24 June 2025. Ethio Telecom said these investors now hold 10.1 million verified shares, valued at about 3 billion birr.
The company said 96 percent of registered applicants were successfully verified, while 3.4 percent failed to meet the final requirements. Among those excluded, 1,646 applicants did not attach their Fayda national ID information to their application forms.
Ethio Telecom said those applicants are not permanently excluded and may still be verified if they submit the missing information. It also said 248 applicants were found to be non-Ethiopian nationals, despite the original restriction limiting the 10 percent stake sale to Ethiopians. The company said it will refund the principal amounts and processing fees to those applicants, as well as to the 1,646 individuals who failed to provide national ID details.
Frehiwot said many investors were not yet trading their shares because they did not fully understand the process. She said shareholder participation now depends not only on Ethio Telecom but also on the wider capital market ecosystem, including brokers and investment banks.
The company said verified shareholders must now visit licensed capital market institutions to open trading accounts before they can buy or sell shares on the exchange. It added that this step is essential for the new market structure to function smoothly.
Ethio Telecom also said it will disclose its full annual performance and business results after the fiscal year ends. The report will first undergo external audit, a process expected to take about two months. The audited results are expected to be published around September on the company’s investor relations page.
That audit report will clear the way for Ethio Telecom’s first general assembly as a public company. Frehiwot said the company is discussing with the Ethiopian Capital Market Authority how to organize the meeting, given the difficulty of gathering all shareholders physically in one place.
Possible options under discussion include in-person participation, online access and proxy representation. The assembly is expected to play a key role in decisions on dividends and other corporate matters, based on board directives and shareholder resolutions.
